We will be organizing a meeting for white anti-racist allies and activists on Thursday, March 25th at 6 30pm. This meeting will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, conveniently located at 547 Mendocino Ave. in downtown Santa Rosa. The purpose of these monthly gatherings is to educate and raise our collective consciousness as white folks who believe in a society without racism. We want to build an analysis of white supremacy- how it benefits us, how it plays out in our communities, and how we can be allies to people of color in the struggle for racial equality. We also want to build a base of white anti-racists in our region to support efforts for racial justice and immigrants' rights.

At our next meeting, we will be having a discussion and presentation on the situation facing the immigrant community in Sonoma County, what's going on with the local struggle for immigrants' rights, and what the role of white folks should be in this struggle. We will also be discussing the newly-formed national network of white anti-racists, called "Let's Build a U.S. for All of Us," and the possibility of using this new effort to unite the local white activist community in the fight against racism. (Check out http://www.usforallofus.org for info) Lastly, we're asking folks to try and have conversations about race with their friends, family, co-workers, comrades, etc. in the lead up to this meeting. We want to have a brief report-back from people to hear what kinds of responses folks are getting when they bring up this issue with other people, as a way to begin to improve our ability to talk about race with other white people.

People of color are more than welcomed and encouraged to join these meetings. However, the purpose of this effort is to get white folks to take responsibility for their role in ending racism, and to build an analysis of white supremacy and white privilege, among the people who benefit from those things. We always welcome feedback, criticism, advice, and insight from folks of color, as to how we can be more effective, transparent, and accountable.

If you have any questions, please give me a call at 707-338-5318

*this event does conflict with another awesome event happening at the Peace and Justice Center to commemorate the life and work of Howard Zinn. Unfortunately, this date was the only one left available for the month of March, so I apologize for the conflicting events. Both events are sure to be quite educational and inspiring, and I hope that you all will attend at least one of them.